Vanquish by Z.L. Arkadie

Author:Z.L. Arkadie
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780984988471
Publisher: Flaming Hearts Press LLC

I certainly don’t want to wear hideous overalls. I can’t believe I used to wear those things! I like Fawn’s clothes a lot better. I also like that I look like her in them. She’s all sinewy, with sexy long legs. So I settle on a pair of jeans that still have tags attached. More than likely Deanna bought them for me. They fit well and go perfectly with the purple V-neck sweater I find hidden behind more ugly stuff. I slip back into Fawn’s furry-topped boots, and I’m ready to go. I’m leaving Fawn’s torn jeans and sweater behind, but I’ll come back to collect them later. I’ll tell her I’m sorry and that it’s Vayle’s fault. So yes, I’m ready to go.

Vayle’s eyes expand with approval at the sight of me. “Kudos to me for letting you get dressed in peace.”

I snort a chuckle. “Kudos.” I kiss him really fast on the cheek because I don’t want to incite a third round.

“Oh,” he says as he smashes a hand on his cheek and shakes a finger at me. “I know what you did there.”

We’re both laughing on our way out, but there’s nothing more sobering than a New England ghost town. The majority of the streetlamps have been blown out by the bitter cold. The atmosphere is opaque black, especially this far up Main Street. Ice layers everything: the roads, the trees, the houses, the sparking power lines, everything.

“I bet it’s a hundred degrees below zero out here!” I say.

“I wonder…” Vayle’s words trail off.

“You wonder what?”

“I wonder how my mother’s doing. Can you imagine being a human living on an Earth with no sun?” We’ve made it to the neighborhood where the drop that takes us underground is. He looks at all the houses with their lights off and cars frozen onto the driveways. “I don’t know how long they can survive this. It’s getting colder every second.”

“Do you think this could be the end of them?” I ask, hoping that’s not the case.

“I don’t know.” He gazes at the sky. “I hope not, but will you come with me to check on my mom later?”

“Of course,” I say without pause.

I don’t even think he’s a mama’s boy for wanting to do that. I can’t imagine having regular people on Earth to care about. I had Deanna, but she’s not a human; she’s doing just fine in the cold. But Vayle has a brother and mother. After all that we’ve been through, the years that passed as we ventured in and out of weird universes, it’s about time he goes home.

“I was thinking about telling my mom that I’m alive.” His pause indicates that he’s wondering what I think about that.

“I think it’s a good idea. Do you think she can handle your being a vampire?”

“I don’t care. Not anymore. She can love me or forget me, but she has to know that I’m alive. I’m her son.”

I just stare into his face, nodding. Sometimes Vayle surprises me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.